Equal Exchange Is Chocolate That’s Sweet for Developing Countries

Organic, trade-free and 100% delicious.

Get Spoon University delivered to you

You tryna be tricky? That email doesn't look right.

By adding your email you agree to get updates about Spoon University Healthier

Imagine a chocolate bar made from four wholesome ingredients. Imagine that the production of this same bar involves and gives profit to developing countries. You’re not dreaming because this bar exists.

Founded in 1986 by Rink Dickinson, Jonathan Rosenthal and Michael Rozyne, Equal Exchange continues to produce chocolate with small-scale farmers in Latin America, Asia and Africa. The four magic ingredients in an Equal Exchange 71% very dark chocolate bar are chocolate liquor, chocolate butter, cane sugar and vanilla beans.

Each bar contains 2 servings, but in a single serving, the Equal Exchange bar contains 230 calories, 17g of fat, 5g of fiber, 11g of sugar, 3g of protein and 40% iron (that’s an impressive percentage of iron in a chocolate bar). Iron helps give us energy and is essential to support healthy cells, skin, hair and nails. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet, you could receive almost half of the iron you need in just 1 serving of an Equal Exchange bar.

Gif courtesy of giphy.com

In comparison to a go-to snack, Equal Exchange chocolate beats multiple protein bars in calorie, sugar and even fiber content. Compared to Detour’s Cookie Dough Caramel Crisp Bar, Equal Exchange has 140 less calories, 14g less sugar and 2g more fiber. Most of the sugar in Detour bars comes from sugar alcohol, which can be difficult to digest and can be linked to bloating, gassiness and diarrhea (ew).

So double check the nutrition facts on your protein bar because hey, maybe it’s better to indulge in some Equal Exchange chocolate.

#SpoonTip: When in Boston or Seattle, check out Equal Exchange’s caféfor coffee, pastries, sandwiches and more.